Agencies ordered to produce anti-drone activist

RAWALPINDI - Justice Shehzad Ahmed Khan of Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench Wednesday sought reply from the heads of intelligence agencies in response to a plea filed by the family of a missing anti-drone activist and a freelance journalist Karim Khan.The LHC Rawalpindi Bench also ordered the intelligence agencies to produce the missing person on the next date of hearing, 20th February 2014. The family of Karim Khan, who went missing on February 5, approached LHC through its council Mirza Shehzad Akbar. LHC Rawalpindi bench Justice Shehzad Ahmed Khan, while hearing the application, ordered the intelligence agencies to produce the missing Karim Khan before the court.The petitioner apprised the court that Karim Khan became missing from the limits of PS Naseerabad and was also supposed to be lifted by police. In its report, a police team, which appeared before the court, mentioned that Karim was not in its custody. The police report also denied its involvement in missing case of Karim Khan. "Khan was picked by persons wearing police uniform and he was not in our custody," the report mentioned.After, the court issued notices to heads of intelligence agencies ordering them to produce the missing person on the next date of hearing.Mirza Shehzad Akbar, the lawyer of victim family, while talking to reporters, said that he hoped that the intelligence agencies would produce Karim on the next date of hearing if he was in their custody. It is pertinent to mention here that Karim Khan, a freelance journalist who also works for foreign news agencies, has been active against drone attacks. He also lost his son and a nephew in drone attack.Karim recently shifted his family to Islamabad following air strikes against militants around Mir Ali in North Waziristan Agency (NWA). He was due to deliver a speech before European Parliament about his personal experience about the drone strikes. But he went missing mysteriously from the limits of PS Naseerabad on February 9, 2014. A case in this regard was registered with police station on orders of court on February 9. Karim Khan was supposed to have crucial witness to the dangerous drone attacks in which hundreds of civilians were allegedly killed.

This news was published in The Nation newspaper. Read complete newspaper of 13-Feb-2014 here.